Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Company are presenting the world premiere of the musical After The Rain, a new Canadian musical. The piece is written by Rose Napoli, with music and lyrics by Suzy Wilde.
The show runs in the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace from May 27 to June 22, 2025, opening June 4.
The Show
The premise of the show is simple — deceptively simple as described on paper. It centres around the character of Suzie Evans Stone, a struggling composer who’s making money secretly giving piano lessons, all while singing backup in her parents’ band.
She takes on a new student, and in the process, ends up changing her life. The student, an older beginner, insists on learning and mastering only one piece: Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1.
The story follows Suzie touring with her parents’ band, as she makes new relationships and discoveries about the people close to her, and helps her student make sense of Satie’s seminal work. There are family troubles, life’s complexities, and, of course, a lot of music. It’s a subtle story about the ups and downs of life, how a song evolves, and how making music together has an undeniable healing power.
Music also tells the story. You can hear a sample of it here.
We spoke to Rose Napoli and Suzy Wilde about the show.
The Interview
Toronto-based Suzy Wilde is a songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, teacher, choir director, and live performer. She works in both the live music and musical theatre communities.
Canadian playwright and actor Rose Napoli is an alumnus of Nightwood Theatre’s Write From the Hip Program. As an actor, she has worked extensively in TV and film as well as on stage, and received a Dora nomination in 2016 for Outstanding Performance, among other accolades.
It’s not the first time that Wilde and Napoli have teamed up. Their project The Carrette Sisters, part of a collective adaptation of the works of Mavis Gallant titled Retold, was nominated for a Dora Award. After The Rain received Tarragon Theatre’s Bulmash-Seigel prize and the Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund prize for new musicals.
How did the story come about? It seems… pretty specific to have been dreamed up out of the blue.
“I’m not a musician. I’m a music lover. I took piano as a child. I took piano lessons, and did not have the patience in it,” says Rose.
Her own story resonates with the student character of the story, who is a middle-aged novice.
“I could definitely draw off those experiences that I had,” she says.
“But, Rose has great rhythm,” adds Wilde.
Wilde relates how After the Rain came about.
“It started with a song, an old song that I had written and done nothing with,” she begins.
The song was about two people she’d met who had become her music students. It would be a matter of years before she got around to playing the song for Rose, who immediately recognized the potential.
“She said, this is a show,” Suzy recalls. “But really, the show is, we always say it’s about the life you have to live to write a single song.”
“And that song is called After The Rain,” Napoli adds.
In other words, there’s a truthful basis for the show, and a lot of dramatization of the truth in the story.
“We’re never explicit of which is which — and yes, it is based on a number of true stories.”
For the show, they’ve assembled a created band, and the musicians offered their own anecdotes which became part of the material.
“Lots of Canadian musicians will see this show and recognize stories that we’ve extrapolated from their truth,” Napoli says.
Why Satie?
Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1 is a work that any student of the piano will recognize.
“One of the characters has a beautiful meditation on the song as she’s actually playing it on the piano,” Napoli says.
As she plays, she talks about the piece.
“It seems as though it’s quite simple when you listen to it,” Rose says.
But, that simplicity is deceptive. There’s a lot that goes into being able to create that air of peacefulness and ease.
“The song serves as a really beautiful metaphor about what a lot of the characters in the show are looking for,” Napoli adds. It’s the perfect way to capture the spirit of the play.
“It’s such a pop song in a way,” Suzy adds. “We had a great time learning about Satie and what he was like during the show.”
The lead character is intrigued by the fact that Satie failed music school, and that his teachers noted his ‘laziness’.
“He seems like a funny, quirky sort of person,” Wilde says.
“He openly said that he had no desire to be successful,” Napoli points out. “He found transgression in tranquility.”
The idea that such a subtle and simple sounding piece of music could be so powerful and affecting is the point.
“Music doesn’t have to be in your face,” Rose says. “Music can be life changing and be quiet and simple at the same time.”
At many concerts nowadays, the conductor will talk to the audience, giving context and biographical details to better understand the music that’s about to be performed.
“I think in a way, that’s what we’re endeavouring to do with our show,” Napoli says. Through the story of coaching one person on one musical work, they take about two hours to build up the context, including the people who surrounded and influenced the composer.
“It feels that there’s so many layers of affect in the show, that we’re understanding one woman trying to learn Satie — but the audience as well is learning,” Rose says. “Those stories really enrich your experience of that music.”
The show also looks to demystify the music, and prove that even a short piece of music can move you as a listener — the composer’s whole life, essentially, goes into each work, no matter how simple or brief.
“We really, with our show, we wanted to democratize the music. We wanted to communicate that music is not a virtuosic thing,” Napoli explains. “They can be equally moved by simplicity as by virtuosity.” She points out that it’s also about underscoring the sense of community that comes from the act of making music. “It’s a special thing regardless of one’s music ability.”
“When somebody sits down to write a song it’s coming out of that person, it’s also coming out of the person they spoke to five minutes ago, and someone they knew ten years ago. It’s such a domino effect,” Suzy says.
As she points out, it was a woman who asked for piano lessons to learn one single song that sparked all of it.
“And because of her idea, a song was created, a show was created,” Wilde says. “Little tiny seeds from anyone can really grow into something special.”
“It means that we’re all artists,” Rose adds. One of the songs in the show involves a woman singing about her mother, and recalling that she would sing while she swept the floors. “I did not grow up in a family that would have called themselves artists,” she says. Nonetheless, there was singing and music. “There are so many people out there who are filled with artistic sensibility. I think this show wants to pay homage to the artistry of those people.”
Suzy also points out the role of music education and the way it’s essentially vanishing from public schools.
“In a city where music in schools is starting to crumble, it seems more and more important to have those conversations,” she says.
“They need to come to see our show,” Rose says of city politicians.
Hitting the road…
The show will be touring to the National Arts Centre in January.
“Our desire is to continue to take this show out on the road and travel it. We do think, like Satie, there is something deeply important about this show,” Napoli says. “It feels like it’s big and it’s small at the same time.”
Above all, it’s a human story of discovery and community, as well as delving into the music and what music performance is, without getting on a soapbox.
“Like Satie, it feels like something quite simple, and yet quite transgressive.”
- Find more details about the Toronto premiere, and tickets, [HERE].
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
